For the First Time, Subway Ended the Year with Fewer U.S. Restaurants than It Started With

Subway, which has more restaurants in the world than any other QSR chain, announced today that it ended 2016 with 359 fewer U.S. locations, leaving it with 26,744. It's the brand's first net reduction.

"We will continue to relocate some shops to better locations and look for new sites — both traditional and non-traditional," the company said in an e-mailed statement.

Subway said its U.S. sales fell 1.7 percent to $11.3 billion last year, while international sales climbed 3.7 percent to $5.8 billion, reflecting a focus on overseas growth.

Subway rival McDonald's has also reduced the number of its U.S. locations in recent years, as it seeks to cut costs by franchising out more restaurants. — Karina Dsouza in Bengaluru [Bengalore, India]; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar, Yahoo Finance